Amttseheirii device



Feb. 21, 1928. I v 1,660,012

- B. s. MOORE ET AL AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Sept. 7. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet1 f Mi/E MTOES 524 L 0 Y \5. Moo/PE WALTER fi Aa Ms,

A T TOPNEY Feb. 21, 1928. 7 1,660,012

B. s. MOORE ET AL AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Sept. '7. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2f MT/Ep/ToPs:

EAL/9r 5. MOORE WALTER E AMS .5 Y

ATTORNEY? FebQZl, 1928.

1,660,012 B. s. MOORE ET AL v AMUSEMENT DEVI CE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 f 1/5TOPS: 544141 SOQOORE WAL 75/? E ADAMS UN'iim BALDY S. MOORE, OF VENICE,AND WALTER F. ADAMS, LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

AMUSEMENT nnvrcn.

Application filed September Our inventionrelates to amusement devicesand particularly to amusement rides such' as are operated at pleasureresorts, "carnivals and beaches.

The ordinary amusement rides, such as come into general use. Thechildrens rides, such as the merry-go-round and mnnatureairplanes, lackthrill for children and are therefore not wholly satisfactory.

We have observed thatchildren get much pleasure out of ridingvelocipedes, toy automobiles and the like, up and down hill.

The general object of our invention is to provide a ride for childrenwhich will give the children suflicient thrill or excitement and yet notbe dangerous. Our invention consists of a plurality of individualvehicles which run on a circular path. The circular path is wave-shaped,having alternating troughs and crests. The veh1cles 2 running on thecircular path have wave motions which simulate riding up and down hills.

We have found that each vehicle must have an up-and-down movemententirely inp dependent of the other vehicles but must ale ways occupythesame circular position relative to the others.

. It is accordingly one of the objectsof this invention to provide anamusement device of this character having vehicles which operate on acircular Wave-shaped path, each vehicle having individual up-and-downmovement but being retained in a certain circular position relativetothe other vehicles.

In our invention we use vehicles in the form of miniature automobileshaving four wheels. The ordinary automobile has only the front wheelspivoted, this being for the purpose of guiding the automobile. In our 45invention the front Wheels are locked in a certain position so that theyguide the automobile in a circular path of a given diameter. It isfoundthat if the back wheels are leftin their original positions, that is,parallel to the longitudinal axis of the automobile, considerable sidestrains are placed thereon, which result in an uneven running of theautomobile over the path, and considerable side strains on the rubbertires of the Wheels, eventually throwingthem from place. We havediscovered that such dif- 7, 1926. Serial No. 133,819.

ficult-ies as these may be eliminated by placmg the rear wheels at r1ghtangles to p a radial line extending from the center of the circularpath.

It is accordingly one of the objects of our Further objects andadvantages will be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings in which We illustrate our invention,

Fig. 1 is a partial plan View of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. r

Fig. 4. is an enlarged section taken on the line 4l of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 66 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a section taken onthe line 8-,8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 10 is a section taken on the line 10-10 0r Fig.9.

F ig. 11 is a fragmentary view showing an alternative construction ofthe invention.

Fig. 12 is a section taken. on the line 12-12 of Fig. 11.

line 5-5 Referring to the drawings indetail, the numeral 20 represents acircular path on which vehicles in the form of miniature automobiles 21are adapted to run. The track 20 is wave-shaped, having alternate highand lower portions or troughs 22 and crests 23 which simulateconsecutive hills. The path 20 is surrounded by a suitable fence 24: andwith an inner ledge 25, this. structure being supported on suitableframe Work 27.

At the center of the path20 is mounted a frame 28. The frame 28 has abase 29 into which a vertical shaft 30 is extended. Keyed to the shaft 30immediately above the base 29 is a drive bevel gear 31. The drive bevelgear 31 is locked to the shaft 30 by means of keys 32. The drive bevelgear 31 is supported by the base 29 by means of a til? bevel gear 31.Mounted directly above the drive bevel gear 31 is a bearing plate 40which supports the vertical shaft 30, the bearing plate 40 being rigidlysupported by frame arms 41. Mounted on the upper end of the verticalshaft 30 is a hub plate 43. The hub plate 43 has a nave 44 through whichthe upper end of the vertical shaft 30 extends, the parts being drivablyattached together by keys 45. Extending radially outward from the nave44 of the hub plate 43 is a cylindrical flange 46 having bearing walls47 extended upward therefrom in pairs, which pairs are circularlyarranged and spaced an equal distance apart. The structure described inthis paragraph constitutes the driving mechanism of the invention.

Inner ends 50 (l i'gs. 1 and 3) of radial arms or spokes 51rest betweenthe pairs of bearingwalls 47. The spokes 51 may be in the form of pipes,as shown, the inner ends thereof being provided with filler bars 52..The inner ends 50 of the spokes 51 are pivotally secured to the pairs ofbearing walls 47 by pivot bolts 53' which extend through the inner endsof the spokes and through the bearing walls. The outer ends of thespokes 51 are attached to the inner sides of the vehicles 21byball-and-socket joints 55. r

As shown in detail in Figs. 4 and 5, the ball-'and-socket"joints 55 eachconsist of a socket 56 and a ball 57; Eachsocket 56 has a block 58 whichis attached by rivets 59 to the innerside of the body of. one of thevehicles 21." Associated with the block 58 is a cap 60 which is securedthereto by bolts 61 having compression springs 62, as illustratedclearly in Figs. 4 and 5. The ball 57 rests in an accommodating pocket63 provided by the blockand cap 58 and 60. Theball 57 has a stem 64, bymeans of which it is attached to a fitting 65 mounted at the outer endof one of the spokes 51.

Fastened to the inner side of the body of each vehicle21 and the rear'of the balland-socket joint 55 thereof is an attachment clip 67'. Asillustrated in Figs. 9 and 10,

the attachment clip 67 has a pair of horizontal flanges 68 which supporta vertical bolt'69. Surrounding the lower part of the vertical bolt 69immediately above the lower flange 68 is an eye 70 of a tie rod 71.Surrounding each bolt 69 between the eye 7 0 and the upper flange 68 isa compression spring 72 which is provided for the purpose of preventingthe outer end of the tie rod 71 from vibrating vertically on thevertical bolt 69. Each tie rod 71 extends inward from each vehicle 21and is attached to the spoke 51 which is associated with the samevehicle as is the tie rod. Figs. 7 and 3 illustrate means for attachingthe tie rods to the spokes. rod 71 is provided with an eye 74 throughwhich a bolt 75 is extended. Each bolt 75 also extends through cars 76of an attachment member 77 which surrounds one of the spokes 51. Thebolts 75 serve dual purposesthcy serve as a means for attaching the tierods to the attachment members and also for securing the attachmentmembers to the spokes 51.

The spokes 51, as will be noted from Fig. 1, extend radially outwardfrom the hub plate to the vehicle which is attached to the outer endthereof. It is necessary that these spokes be equally spaced. F or thepurpose of spacing the spokes we provide attachment means consisting ofplates 80 which are secured to each of the spokes 51 near the outer endsthereof by bolts 31 extending through cars 82 thereof. Connected to eachof the bolts 81 is a flexible member 83, which flexible member 83 isprovided with an eye 84 which surrounds each bolt 81. The other ends ofthe flexible members 83 are connected to turn buckles 85 by means ofwhich the spaces between the difierent spokes 51 may be regulated. Theflexible members 83 hold the spokes 51 in their proper radialrelationship but permit them to move relatively up and down. This isnecessary since the vehicles 21 pass over a wave-shaped path.

Front wheels 88 of the vehicles 21 and back wheels 89 are arranged sothat their axles extend on a radial line projected from the center ofrotation of the spokes 51. This allows a free movement of the vehiclesin a-circular path without any side strains which would be present ifany of the wheels were not arranged in the positions described andshown.

The operation of the invention is substan tially as follows:

After the patrons have been seated in the vehicles 21 the motor 35 isenergized and the reduction gearing 36 is set into opera tion. The drivepinion 37 of the reduction gearing rotates the drive bevel gear 31, thusrotating the shaft 30. The spokes 51 are turned with the hub plate 43and the ve hicles 21 are moved over the circular path. In Fig. 2, one ofthe vehicles 21 is shown on a crest 23 of the circular path 20. Thespoke 51 attached to this vehicle 21 extends downward at a noticeableangle. \Vhen this vehicle reaches a trough 22 the spoke 51 extendssubstantially straight from the vehicle 21. It will be seen that inorder to permit a relative swinging motion of this nature, it isnecessary to provide a hinged joint at the hub plate 43 and also at thevehicle 21. As the vehicle 21 is moving from The inner ends of each tiea trough to a crest, the front end thereof is higher than the back end;therefore there must be a relative movement between the spoke 51attached to this vehicle and the vehicle in a plane substantially atright angles to the extension of the spoke 51. WVhen the vehicle ispassing from a crest to a trough, the back end is higher than the frontend. Therefore, there will again be a relative motion between thevehicle and the spoke. The ball-and-socket joint 55 which the inventionprovides permits the relative motion between the vehicles and thespokes,

both in planes parallel tothe extension of the spokes and in planes atright angles thereto. The spoke attached to the vehicle 21 in Fig. 2 isconsiderable higher than the spoke attached to a vehicle positioned 90from the one shown in Fig. 2. It is necessary that there be a relativevertical swinging between the different spokes 51 because they move upanddown independently. The means for attaching the spokes togetherpermits such a relative motion. The flexible members 83, however, retainthe spokes in their proper radial relationship.

The tie rods 71 hold the cars 21 in their proper positions, that is, atright angles to a radial line or to the extension of a spoke 51 Which isattached to the car. The manner of attaching the tie rods 71 to thevehicles 21 permits the relative motion between the vehicles and thespokes 51, as previously described, but is designed so that there willbe no vibration and so that there will be no danger of a child beinginjured by placing his hand in the clip 67.

In Figs. 11 and 12 we show a modified form of means for holding thespokes 51 in their proper spaced relationship. This means includes anattachment arrangement 90 having plates 91 which are attached togetherby bolts 92. Carried by the bolts 92 are eye fixtures 93, to which metalbars 95 are attached. The inner ends of the bars 95 are connected to aturn buckle 96. In this form of the invention, in place of usingflexible members 83, we use stili bars 95 and attach the stifi" bars 95to eye fixtures 93 which permit a hinging action to take place. Thisarrangement functions as does the arrangement in the other form of theinvention, retaining the spokes in proper spaced relationship butpermitting relative vertical movement therebetween.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that our inventionprovides an amusement ride which is especially adapted for children andwhich provides suliicient excitement without any danger. Theconstruction is such that there are no exposed moving parts in whichchildren could place their fingers.

We claim as our invention:

In an amusement ride of the class described, the combination of: awave-shaped circular path; vehicles adapted to run on said path; drivingmechanism at the center of said path; radial spokes extending from saiddriving mechanism to said vehicles; hinge means connecting said spokesto said driving mechanism so that said spokes may swing only in avertical plane; ball'andsocket joints each of which connects the outerend of one of said spokes to one of said vehicles; rigid braces each ofwhich is flexibly connected at one end to one of said vehicles and atthe other end is flexibly connected to the spoke which is connected byone of said ball-and-socket joints to said vehicle; and spacing meansfor retaining said spokes in proper spaced relation.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles,California, this 31st day of August, 1926.-

BALDY S. MOORE. WALTER F. ADAMS.

